Contact methods

[JK Ferret]

I know about MSN and Yahoo! but what is ICQ and AIM?

Perhaps someone can explain it all?

[Trippledence]

There jsut other messeging services. That suck.

I use MSN and SkyPe. The only ones youll ever need.

[XA04]

I use MSN Messenger -- best IM client - EVER.

ICQ and AIM are crap. AIM is made by AOL, its crap, try it if you don't believe me.
and ICQ.. you don't get to choose a name, you are given a 11 digit number or something which is randomly generated and you have to remember it.

[DavidM]

ICQ was one of the first.. but it's not exactly easy to use ...

You're best using trillian - or similar - as then anyone can talk to you

[Yohji]

AIM is horrific... I've seen someone using it, and it made my eyes hurt. Like Tripple said, MSN and Skype are all you need.

[5lab]

icq was the first successful messenger client - it has benefits over the others but its peak was probably ~7 years ago.. it was one of the first to have multi-user chats

aol and yahoo messenger used to both be bigger than msn, but as soon as m$ stuck windows messenger in winXP (which is compatible with msn messenger) it just took over. i'd be surprised if you ever need anything else

incidentally - i dont see what all the hype over skype is - icq had voice 6 years ago!

incidetnally, the icq name means 'i seek you'

[DavidM]

Yep - ICQ is a radio amateur code

[Spud1]

pfft


MSN is just one of the most popular - tho iirc AIM is still the most widely used in the world.

ICQ (I 'seek' 'you', clever name eh) used to be the best until AOL bought it - at which point loads of users (inc me) switched to MSN, which has grown and grown.

ICQ was a much better client and protocol back in the day, I would still be using it now if AOL hadnt bought it out and most of my friends were on MSN

XA04 - MSN isnt the best client ever, its a horrible one and has got even worse with msn7. Its just simple and pretty enough to be acceptable, most of the features only just showing up in msn over the past few years (profiles, email notifications, sms etc) have been present in ICQ for years and the number system is better than tying an email to your account..


EDIT: just noticed 5Lab has posted some of the same points in the time it took me to write this nice to see someone else with the right facts

[JK Ferret]

Yet I see you have links to both of them, Spud1...

[DavidM]

(Actually I was wrong - CQ is the Radio Amateur code - but I was close - as apparently it may have been created by a couple of Radio Hams )

[Kezzer]

I use MSN Messenger -- best IM client - EVER.

That's the funniest thing i've heard in a good while. Shame it's an utter lie.

In my opinion, the best IM "client" (not a client but a tech) is IRC. It's not only THE original chat program developed for the internet but it's also still the most widely used.

[Spud1]

Yet I see you have links to both of them, Spud1...

indeed i still have my old ICQ number don't like throwing stuff away

IRC is a good protocol, with plenty of clients using it (mIrc, pIrc, bitchX etc and various scripts for each of those) but its not really an IM protocol/client, more of a chat system

[tiggerai]

you don't get to choose a name, you are given a 11 digit number or something which is randomly generated and you have to remember it.

ICQ was waaaaay before it's time all those years ago...

incidentally, Mine is an 8 digit number and i can remember both of my old ones.

ICQ rocked. I'd still use it if all my friends still did.

[XA04]

Guys, there is hundreds of great features in the latest MSN Messenger 7, along with the mess patch or a-patch of course (to remove adverts, stupid winks, nudges and packs)

Apart from that its a GREAT client.

[Spud1]

pfft msn7 is Fugly, huge in comparison to msn6, uses a bit more memory (ok so 1meg isnt much but every byte counts) uses more real estate, has that horrible new way of showing your name... I know all the other annoying things can be turned off (like the pictures, adds etc) but its still not as nice as trillian or msn 6.2

[DavidM]

Although apparently more security holes are filled ...